SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!-Chapter 65: Kane’s Last Stand

The main plaza in Genesis Outpost #7 was a giant party. The huge screen set up by the god Warden showed a live map of the Shattered Peaks.

Two big blue circles were slowly filling up, one labeled "Node Alpha" and the other, much more impressively, "Node Gamma." Both had a timer counting down from one hour.

The crowd roared every time the timer ticked down another minute.

In the Outpost’s private chat, the messages were flying so fast they were hard to read.

Ace Striker: A MASTERSTROKE! A FLAWLESS STRATEGY! Governor Stone knew the Apex Titan was the key! He faced the beast alone, a true hero, while our brave Scarlett secured another point! Victory is already ours! I am composing a victory song in his honor!

Player_117: Someone get Ace a glass of water. He’s going to pass out.

Chris "Boulder" Magnus (from the battlefield): Hah! We’re doing great! This is way easier than fighting those angry teenage birds!

Everyone was happy. They were winning. It felt like their team was ahead by a hundred points with only a few minutes left in the game. They were already planning the celebration.

Miles away, on a floating island littered with the smoking bodies of dead Sky Titans, the mood was very different. There was no party here. There was only the bitter smell of burnt feathers and the quiet groans of an injured man.

Tom Kane, the proud leader of the Crimson Banner, stood over the pulsing light of Node Beta. The node was finally his. His team had fought hard, their discipline and training shining through as they battled the fierce creatures.

But the cost had been high. One of his best men, a soldier named Roric, was lying on the ground, his leg bent at a sickeningly wrong angle. He was out of the fight.

Kane’s face was a mask of cold fury. He had just received the notification from the god Warden.

[UNIFICATION CHALLENGE UPDATE]

[Outpost #7 has begun capturing Node Alpha.]

[Outpost #7 has begun capturing Node Gamma.]

[Current Score: Outpost #7: 2 Nodes. Crimson Banner: 1 Node.]

He stared at the message, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He had been so sure of his plan. Rush the closest, easiest nodes. Overwhelm any defenders with speed and skill. It was a good plan. A logical plan.

But Ryan Stone didn’t play by the rules of logic.

"He went for the Apex Anomaly," Kane whispered to himself, a sliver of disbelief in his voice. "The madman actually went straight for the hardest target on the map."

It was a move so bold, so incredibly stupid, that Kane hadn’t even considered it a possibility. No sane person would risk fighting a Level 10 Apex creature alone.

But Stone had done it. And he had won. While Kane’s team was getting bogged down in a messy, draining fight for one node, Ryan had leapfrogged over him and snatched the most valuable prize on the board.

He had been completely and utterly outplayed. His team was battered and tired. Their spirits were low. They looked beaten.

He looked at his three remaining soldiers. They were breathing heavily, their red and grey armor scratched and dented. They looked at him, waiting for their next order, but their eyes were filled with doubt.

Kane’s mind raced. He could hold Node Beta, wait for the timers to run down, and hope that Stone made a mistake. But he knew that was a losing game. Stone had two timers running. He only needed one to finish.

No. Waiting for the enemy to lose was not how the Crimson Banner operated. They seized victory, even when it seemed impossible.

A desperate, wild plan formed in his mind. It was a long shot, a gamble that could cost him everything. But it was the only shot he had left.

He turned to his squad. His voice was cold and sharp as a shard of ice.

"Hale, get Roric stable. We’re leaving him here," he commanded. The medic, Hale, nodded grimly. "The rest of you, with me. We are abandoning this node."

His men stared at him in shock. Abandon the node they had just fought and bled for?

"Sir?" one of them asked, confused.

"You heard me," Kane snapped. "Stone thinks he has us pinned. He thinks we’ll sit here and wait to lose. We are going to hit Node Alpha. We are going to hit it with everything we have left. We will crush his scout team and take that node before his timer on Gamma runs out. It is our only chance. Now, move!"

There was no more room for questions. The three remaining soldiers of the Crimson Banner moved with the speed of their training, their exhaustion replaced by a final surge of desperate adrenaline.

They took off, leaping across the floating islands with practiced ease, a small, deadly spear aimed directly at Scarlett’s position.

Emma Thorne’s eyes widened as she watched the map on her floating blue screen. "Oh no."

Her voice crackled over their team’s private communication channel. "Ryan, Scarlett, we have a problem. Kane is on the move. He’s abandoned Node Beta and he’s heading straight for Node Alpha. Fast."

From his perch on the highest island, Ryan looked down at the tactical map projected by his own interface. He saw the three red dots moving like angry hornets toward Scarlett’s blue dot. He had to admit, it was a bold move. Kane was cornered, but he wasn’t giving up.

"He’s desperate," Ryan said into the comms, his voice surprisingly calm. "Good. Scarlett, can you hold them?"

Scarlett’s voice came back, cool and confident. "Let them come."

Ryan smiled. He had faith in his team. But he wasn’t going to leave things to chance. He looked at the giant, pulsing god Node he was standing on. The capture process was steady, like a slow drip of water filling a bucket. He needed to turn it into a fire hose.

He placed his new Weaver’s Interface Gauntlet directly onto the surface of the node’s core crystal. "Okay, big guy," he muttered. "Let’s speed this up."

He focused his will, pouring his own energy through the gauntlet. He used its power to interface directly with the node’s systems, forcing it to sync with him at a much faster rate.

The blue circle of light around him pulsed violently, and the timer on his screen began to tick down noticeably faster. It was draining, but it might just buy his team the time they needed.

At Node Alpha, Scarlett listened to the warning and immediately went to work. The island they were on was small, with a few twisted trees and large rocks. It was a decent place to make a stand.

"Alright team, company’s coming," she said, her voice never rising above a calm command. "Let’s give them a proper welcome. Jennifer, where are the weak spots?"

Jennifer "Quake" Lee closed her eyes, placing her hands on the rocky ground. She could feel the vibrations of the island, its solid parts and its fragile edges. "There," she said, pointing. "That ledge over the edge is barely holding on.

A heavy impact will send it crumbling. And this area here," she indicated a flat, open space, "looks solid, but the rock underneath is hollow. It won’t hold much weight."

"Perfect," Scarlett said with a thin smile. She began to weave her hands through the air, pulling on the shadows around her. Her "Shadow Weave" talent came to life.

A dark, shimmering illusion spread over the hollow ground, making it look like the most solid, appealing place to stand. She created a shimmering copy of herself and Chris, standing right on the fragile ledge.

Chris "Boulder" Magnus watched her work with awe. "Ooh, that’s sneaky. I like it." He then found the most solid piece of rock on the entire island, a spot Jennifer had pointed out, and planted his feet.

He slammed his huge shield into the ground, creating a small crater. "This is my spot! No one gets past Chris’s spot!" he declared. "If they want this node, they have to get through me. And my shield. And we are both very, very stubborn."

The four of them formed a tight, defensive line behind Chris, ready for the coming storm. They were outnumbered and facing one of the best tacticians in the Sector.

But they were on their home turf, and they were not going to give it up without a fight.

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